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Indomitus Crusade
The Indomitus Crusade is a Crusade that was launched by the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman after he declared himself Lord Commander of the Imperium's armies during the Thirteenth Black Crusade. The main aim of the Crusade is one of reconquest, as Guilliman intends to liberate those Imperial worlds embattled by the forces of Chaos following the creation of the Great Rift, which has divided his Father's Empire in half. History It was not until Guilliman departed from the Throneroom of the Imperial Palace after meeting with the Emperor that he declared the need for the Indomitus Crusade, leaving some to speculate it was the Emperor's will as opposed to his own. Guilliman's forces consist of troops from over a dozen Space Marine Chapters led by the Imperial Fists. These are joined by Imperial Guard, Mechanicum, Custodes, Sisters of Battle, Imperial Navy, Skitarii, Legio Cybernetica, Collegia Titanica, Knights, a small contingent of Sisters of Silence, and the newly created Primaris Space Marines created by Archmagos Belisarius Cawl. With the Astronomican in a state of disarray due to the formation of the Great Rift, the Indomitus Crusade risked only short jumps through the warp. The first fleet to see action was Fleet Tertius under Fleetmaster Cassandra VanLeskus, which battled the Khornate Crusade of Slaughter in the Sol System. The fleet continued on into Segmentum Pacificus and then arced into Segmentum Pacificus. Fleet Secundus set out next, its ranks spearheaded by the Battle Sisters of the Order of the Ebon Chalice and the Order of Our Martyred Lady. This force was directed itself towards the Eye of Terror in an offensive across Segmentum Obscurus known as the Road of Martyrs. Fleet Primus left the Sol System third, taking with it the largest compliment of Ultima Founding Primaris Space Marines of the Greyshields as well as Belisarus Cawl himself aboard the Zar Quaesitor. It set out not upon a single heading but instead diverged into several spearheads that further fractured as they spread out from Terra. Wherever the Battlegroups of Fleet Primus surged into the fight they drove back the hordes of heretics and xenos that threatened to overrun Mankind. Of all the Indomitus Crusade Fleets, Fleet Septimus (the 7th) alone was commanded to gather far from the Sol System. The exact location of its mustering point was kept a heavily guarded secret, known only to Roboute Guilliman himself and his inner circle. How large or small those battlegroups were, what forces were assigned to them, and what Fleet Septimus’ veiled purpose might be, none could be sure. Those assigned to the seventh fleet simply vanished, leaving nothing behind them but dark speculation and persistent rumors of onyx-chased servo skulls that drifted through the shadows clutching high level-clearance data scrolls in their metallic claws. Gaining momentum, the Indomitus Crusade pushed a path through system after system. Daemon hordes were driven back from Gathalamor, the Drogos System and Tallarn. In the Lhorm Reaches, the Brass Tyrant was defeated. The entire population of Ophelia VII was freed from the enslavement of the Tyrant of Blueflame, although the Greater Daemon escaped. Word of the crusade's approach alone was enough to quell the rebellion on Necromunda. By the time the Crusade reached Catachan, all of the Chaos forces had already been defeated by the local Catachan Jungle Fighters Regiments. At Catachan, the Crusade halted for reinforcement and resupply and, despite heavy losses, the Indomitus fleet was larger when it departed Catachan than it had been when it first left Terra. As the Indomitus Crusade worked its way outwards from Terra, the worst effects of the Great Rift were already lifting across many sectors. Although warp storms still drifted out of the Great Rift, the Astronomican was slowly burning away the taint of the warp throughout the galactic south. Many citizens that survived the cruel oppression of daemonic hordes saw divine correlation between the two events. Those that glimpsed the Primarch firsthand whispered that they had seen the Emperor himself. Word of the Primarch erupted across the galaxy, revitalizing the Imperium's morale. However, the crusade came to many worlds that were beyond saving and suffered setbacks. Where there was no hope, Guilliman sought instead to bring vengeance and Exterminatus, as was the case with the Hive World Bhundar and the Daemonic-corrupted Cardinal World of Gloriphia. At Terra Secundus, the Crusade fleet suffered ambushes and catastrophic malfunctions, having been lured into a terrible trap by the Alpha Legion. Although it pained him to do so, Guilliman made the difficult decision to pull back, skirting the whole Primagenesis System, as he could not afford to become bogged down in a long war of attrition. The crusade's journey later saw it encounter dozens of systems in which countless Imperial citizens were left in thrall to the Chaos Gods. This was a bitter reality for Roboute Guilliman and his forces. As the Indomitus Crusade penetrated deeper into the galaxy, Archmagos Cawl kept his automaton workers on overdrive to create new Primaris Marines and the weapons for them. Aboard the massive vessel Zar-Quaesitor, thousands of Primaris Space Marines – some comprising entirely new Chapters and others designated as reinforcements for existing ones – were awakened out of stasis and made ready to join the fray. On Rynn's World, the arrival of the Indomitus Crusade broke the daemonic legions of the Daemon Prince Rhaxor. After the battle, the stunned Crimson Fists were given reinforcements of Primaris Marines. For his raw material, Cawl had selected warriors of Terra, and had taken them only a few generations after the original Imperial Fists had been created by the Emperor. Indeed, some had been held in stasis since the days of the Great Crusade; a few of the Primaris Space Marines could recall having seen Rogal Dorn himself. Such reunions were repeated on Baal, Chogoris, and throughout Ultramar. After around 100 years, the Indomitus Crusade began to break down. When the vast holds of the Zar-Quaesitor were emptied, Archmagos Cawl departed, for he had many more secret vaults to activate in order to complete the Ultima Founding. Once deployed, new Chapters remained after the initial conflicts were won, seeking to consolidate the crusade's gains. In many cases, they did this by establishing their own new Chapter planets. In this way, the crusade not only freed worlds from the tyranny of the Dark Gods, but also strengthened their defenses against further attacks that were sure to come. After hearing of serious developments in the Plague Wars of Ultramar, Guilliman could no longer ignore his home and decided to break up the Indomitus Crusade. After the Battle of Raukos Guilliman held a great Triumph and announced the dispersion of the Crusade throughout the Imperium. Organization Organization of a typical Indomitus Crusade Battlegroup Despite being under the overall command of Roboute Guilliman, the Indomitus Crusade did not operate as a single force. Rather, it was a massive ever-growing fleet divided into many formations that varied greatly in size and makeup. Each of these Fleets had their own Space Marine, Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy, Adeptus Mechanicus, Sisters of Battle, Sisters of Silence, and Adeptus Custodes detachments. Supporting these were support groups from the Adeptus Arbites, Inquisition, Officio Assassinorum, and Ecclesiarchy. The Fleets were identified by number, such as Fleet Primus, Fleet Secundus, Fleet Tertius, and so on and fell under the command of a Fleetmaster. Each of these fleets was in turn divided into a number of Battlegroups, identified as Battlegroup Alphus, Battlegroup Betaris, Battlegroup Cerastus, etc. each under the command of a Groupmaster. Though each battlegroup was part of a greater fleet, they were designed to be independent and self-sufficient. Battlegroups would answer to their corresponding Fleetmaster for strategic direction, but otherwise investigated and initiated their own campaigns. The third level of the Crusade was the Task Force, which were specialized military groupings that were assembled on the order of a Groupmaster. They were intended to achieve the conquest of specific worlds or defense platforms, the couriering of vital messages through the vastness of space, the destruction of specific enemies who had been marked for death, and whatever other important tasks had to be achieved. Each Task Force had within it a specialized force known as Torchbearers. This consisted of Sisters of Silence, 1 squad of Custodes, and a conclave of Magos Biologis. These acted as the direct emissaries of Guilliman and would transfer new Primaris Space Marine technology and Gene-Seed to cutoff Space Marine Chapters. Each Indomitus Crusade Fleet was initially organised right down to a regimental level by Roboute Guilliman. However, the Primarch had to accept that his painstaking organisational work would not long survive contact with the war-torn galaxy. He thus provided fleetmasters and groupmasters alike with powers of requisition to rival those of even the most domineering Lord Inquisitor. To facilitate and resupply this great undertaking, Guilliman created the Officio Logisticarum. High Ranking Members of the Indomitus Crusade *Lord Commander Guilliman *Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl *Fleetmaster Cassandra VanLeskus *Ultramarines Captain Cato Sicarius *Ultramarines Captain Decimus Felix - Guilliman's last Equerry before the Crusade was ended. *Ultramarines Captain Acheran‎ *Aurora Chapter Codicier Donas Maxim - Leader of Guilliman's Concilia Psykana. *Adeptus Custodes Tribune Maldovar Colquan *Sisters of Silence Commander Aphone *Sisters of Silence Commander Bellas *Magos Dominus GiFellivo *Magos Cordus-Rho Notable Battles of the Indomitus Crusade *The Crusade of Slaughter *The Road of Martyrs *The Battle of Vorlese *Battle for Terra Secundus *The Devastation of Baal *The Invasion of the Odoacer System *The War of Beasts on Vigilus *The Battle of Gathalamor *The Cleansing of Pyros *The Battle of Raukos *Invasion of the Chaos-held Forge World Driantum *Invasion of the Chaos-held world Braxar Tertia‎ *The Battle of Eight Pillers, against the Fleshreavers Warband. Category:The History of Strike Force Ultima Category:Great Battles